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hile walking through my Venice neighbor hood, I spotted this dope little art gallery/pop-up-shop. Inside I saw some dope threads and met a couple of cool cats. They started to tell me and my 3 month year old daughter, how they got started with their line (Bristol LA). I instantly wanted to hear more of their story. They are two motivated young entrepreneurs who have a vision and are chasing after it in a major way. I look forward to watching them grow as a brand and as partners. Check out more of their journey below…
Who was involved in starting Bristol?
Both of us, Luke and Tommy, were involved in starting Bristol. No more, no less.
What is the story on how you first got started?
Both myself and Tommy were back from college. We actually both ended up going to school in the midwest to play basketball in college, though at different schools. While away, we realized just how unique of a place Los Angeles is and how much it means to us. It shaped who we were then and are today. Classmates at school would often say things like, “oh I knew you were from LA. I could tell by how chill you always were!” We were like, “huh?” Is that even possible.
So over winter break while we were back from college, we both bonded over missing LA, home, and the sunshine. We felt like the odd men out in school. Everyone had a very “professional” path. All our friends on the basketball team were studying to be doctors or lawyers or business men. And Tommy and I were not trying to do any of those things. We’ve both always been more creative. It was basketball practice and then photography class or it was basketball class and then music, etc, etc. So those “normal” professions were just nothing that ever interested us. When we were back we sort of casually entertained the idea of starting a menswear line. We both got into fashion through basketball and it became a second passion for us; today it is our first passion and basketball our second. But we were the kids in middle school who would wait for Jordan drops or hang out at Union wishing we could afford the clothing in there. So naturally, a deep love for clothing evolved. Starting in sneakers, we slowly got into streetwear, and eventually found higher end designers as well. I think Bristol is a strong reflection of all these influences — basketball culture, sneakers, urban, but we also blended it with the “higher” fashion we are drawn to.
While we were back in Los Angeles, after talking a little about starting something, we began going downtown and researching factories, sourcing fabrics, etc. We spent about a year just educating ourselves, learning how to source fabrics, learning the manufacturing process, and eventually getting a hold on it.
I think the most important thing is to be persistent and honest to who you are
Why are you passionate about your brand?
We are really passionate about our brand because as I sort of alluded to above, our brand is an extension of ourselves. Bristol tells our story. It’s very much intertwined with Los Angeles culture because that’s where we grew up. So we like to keep that aspect of our brand — we make everything in downtown and source most of our materials in Los Angeles. But beyond that, Tommy and I have been friends since high school, and Bristol was the street in LA that I grew up on. Bristol became our spot and we’d often dream about what we wanted to do one day — whether that was related to fashion or music or film, etc. So we called our brand Bristol as an homage to those days — when we would dream of starting something like a clothing line.
What were some roadblocks that you had to overcome to get to where you are now?
Roadblocks, there were many. Fashion is hard because the barrier of entry is really high. So many materials go into making up a piece of clothing so figuring out all of our sources was really a challenge. Educating ourselves, figuring out how pieces should be correctly put together was a challenge. Some of our first jeans were very “messy.” A lot of people don’t want to help out others because they see you as a threat, so they’re very hesitant to give up their manufacturing or fabric sources. So really that was a challenge because all that research had to be done on our own — hours and hours we would drive around downtown, google searching, finding the right spots. Another big roadblock was the money aspect. Fashion has a big over head so creating a business plan and finding the seed money to start Bristol was definitely a challenge as well. We dug into our own pockets many times.
What separates your brand from others?
I think our brand is unique because it is authentically us. Who else grew up in LA, started a clothing line at 19-20, manufacturers all their stuff in Los Angeles, and created a brand inspired by their hometown? As children of this generation, we’ve blended all of our inspirations in a unique way that leads to new and fresh designs. Everyone else doing the clothing game is at least a few years older than us, if not, 10. So naturally, we bring a fresh take to menswear. Or at least, that’s our goal.
Who are some people who have inspired you to get to where you are at?
I’m not sure if we can name specific people who have inspired us to get to where we are. But Los Angeles is a constant inspiration for us — the ever changing city, the weather, the landscape, etc. We find we are constantly in awe of the city and thus it pushes us to create. Images, movies, and music are another big inspiration to us. We love finding images online and creating moodboards. Costumes and worlds in certain movies are another big inspiration. Music is always fueling our creativity and often we have music on in the background when we are working.
What is some advice you would give to someone who wants to start a line or a brand?
Advice — I think the most important thing is to be persistent and honest to who you are (as corny as that sounds). There were so many times we hit road blocks — whether that be financially or we hit a dead end trying to source a fabric or fill in the blank. We’ve been so frustrated with it at times but what’s helped us the most has been persistence. We don’t let each other give up until we’ve exhausted every possible option. In this sense, it’s really nice to have a partner because there might be a time I’m down and need Tommy to pick us up or vise versa. The other part, be truthful to who you are: make a brand that you like. Reason being, if you stay honest to yourself, you’re more likely to create something fresh and original than if you just try and knock off something that already exists. Don’t get me wrong, we are constantly inspired by other designers and will for sure take ideas from them, but as a whole, it has to be you.
What are your favorite books?
Just Kids, Patti Smith. Pale Blue Dot, Carl Sagan. Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell. The Big Short, Michael Lewis. Harry Potter 1, 2, 3, JK Rowling.
What music are you listening to right now?
4102, Leven Kali. Ego Death, The Internet. By Dom Kennedy, Dom Kennedy. Mr. Wonderful, Action Bronson. All Eyez on Me, 2pac. Bon Iver.
What is something you would have told yourself 5 years ago, knowing what you know now?
Plan better. We have a tendency to go for things head on. Sometimes it can be our greatest asset, other times it can be our greatest weakness. I guess more than plan better, it would be to teach ourselves to discern between the times we should just go for it vs. really plan something out and think about it. There’s that famous John Wooden quote: “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” This has definitely been part of a few of our roadblocks.
What is in store for the future of Bristol?
Keep making stuff that we like. At the moment, we don’t have any high dreams of taking over the world or anything… We’re totally content being a cool niche brand that a few people like. Bristol was started because we felt like no one out there offered exactly what we wanted. So we made a promise to ourselves to always design products that we, personally, like. First and foremost, that will always be at the core of Bristol. Obviously that has to be balanced with the business side of things. So the two must act like a check and balance of sorts. Right now we operate on a direct to customer model, but in the future we are thinking about exploring wholesale possibilities and growing our business that way. Eventually we’d love to have a storefront in Los Angeles. And just as much as it is a storefront we want it to be that house on “Bristol” where it all started — the place where people come to kick it, talk, collaborate, meet other people, and dream of starting a clothing line or whatever he/she is passionate about.
How can people check you guys out and grab some of your newest collection?
www.brstl.la or email us at info@brstl.la
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